No Room on a Bike Rack? Not a Problem for These Smart Bikes

It promised a new way of bike riding in New York City — GPS-tracked smart bikes that would rent for as little as $1 and did not have to be picked up or returned to fixed locations.

But before it could even start, the company that operates the bikes, Spin, canceled a demonstration project in the Rockaways in Queens after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from city transportation officials. A news conference to welcome the neon-orange Spin bikes instead became a rally to bring them to the beachside community complete with ceremonial rides along the boardwalk.

Spin’s unsuccessful effort comes as a new generation of tech-savvy bike companies are vying to make riding less expensive and more convenient, competing with more established bike-share programs in the process. Instead of heading to a docking station full of bikes, riders tap a mobile app to locate the closest bicycle left by a previous rider on a street or sidewalk, or in another public space. They typically scan a code on the bikes or punch in numbers to unlock the rear wheels. Once riders get where they are going, they find a place to park the bike, and lock the wheels again to deter theft.

These so-called “dockless bike” programs aim to let customers ride on their own terms, and are similar to the flexible car-sharing program car2go, which allows drivers to leave cars where they can find on-street parking within an operating area. The dockless bikes can be rolled out more quickly and easily than bike-share systems that rely on a network of docking stations, which are expensive to build and take up valuable street and parking space. In Dallas, which had struggled for years to fund a bike-share system, there are now about 300 dockless bikes.

“I’ve been calling it ‘Bike Share 2.0,’” said Lee M. Kleinman, a Dallas City Councilman. “By dragging our feet, we ended up with the latest and greatest flavor of bike share instead of the legacy docking systems.”

In New York, the idea of free-floating bikes also appeals to many riders who say they may have to go out of their way to get to a docking station or ride from one station to another trying to return a bike because all the parking slots are full.

“Many times I’ve searched for a dock,” said Joe Flanagan, 56, a financial worker, as he claimed the last available spot in a Citi Bike station in Lower Manhattan. “I’m surprised I found one down here.”

Spin’s price is another draw: $1 for every 30 minutes. Citi Bike, which is New York City’s bike-share program, does not offer a single-ride price, but instead has a $12 one-day pass, which includes an unlimited number of 30 minute rides.

But many city officials and transportation advocates contend that dockless systems are still unproven, and that piecemeal efforts by what some have called “rogue bike-share companies” have been done with flimsy equipment and little coordination or oversight. New York City transportation officials said they did not know about Spin’s demonstration until a few days beforehand.

“As much as we want to embrace new technology, it has to be done in a safe and orderly way,” said Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We don’t want it to be the Wild West.”

Dockless bike-share systems have been tried in other countries with mixed results. In China, there have been reports of mounds of bikes cluttering up public spaces. Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, said he observed the chaos during a recent visit to Beijing and Shanghai. “It was like bike sharing on steroids,” he said. “Some were lined up but others were just dropped off and piled up like the riders were in a race to catch a train.”

Derrick Ko, the chief executive officer of Spin, which is based in San Francisco, said his company has worked with local officials and community and business leaders to introduce their bikes. Spin has more than 2,500 bikes in four cities, including Seattle and Dallas, and employs a ground crew to maintain the bikes, which are equipped with a solar panel to power the rear wheel locks and high density foam tires to withstand punctures.

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Citi Bike, which is New York City’s bike-share program, does not offer a single-ride price, but instead has a $12 one-day pass. Spin is $1 for every 30 minutes.CreditJohn Taggart for The New York Times

His company, Mr. Ko said, has received more requests for bikes than complaints. “Every city is getting so crowded so the more transportation options, the better,” Mr. Ko said. “We are complementing the existing transportation infrastructure.”

Some cities have taken steps to try to head off any problems. Dallas has updated an information hotline to route any complaints about the bikes directly to the companies, Mr. Kleinman said. And Downtown Dallas, a nonprofit group, has pledged to install 150 bike racks during the next two years to serve as handy resting spots for the dockless bikes.

San Francisco, which has a dock-based, bike-share program that is being expanded, has created a permit application for “stationless bikes” that requires companies to ensure that their bikes meet safety standards and are accessible to everyone, especially in disadvantaged communities.

Seattle turned to dockless bikes in July after ending a 2014 dock-based program, Pronto, that had failed to attract many riders. Scott Kubly, the city’s transportation director, said the city had considered spending $5 million to expand Pronto but decided instead to put that money toward more bike routes and infrastructure, and invite companies to bring in dockless bikes through a new permit process that requires the bikes to be parked on sidewalks away from foot traffic, alongside benches and planters.

The new program has grown to 3,000 bikes operated by three companies — Spin, LimeBike, and ofo — and is expected to soon double in size to 6,000 bikes. Mr. Kubly said the city has received few complaints, and the bikes are already more heavily used than their predecessors, averaging between two and three rides per bike per day. There have been local media reports that some are being “parked irresponsibly.”

In New York, interest in Spin’s dockless bikes has been fueled by gaps in the city’s bike-share program. About 10,000 Citi Bikes are deployed from docking stations concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with some stations in Queens and none in the Bronx and Staten Island, leading to charges of inequity and favoritism by some local officials and residents.

“If they’re not going to serve our district, and someone else wants to, I welcome them with open arms,” said Eric A. Ulrich, a Queens councilman who has tried to get Citi Bikes stationed in the Rockaways.

Mr. Ko said that Spin was still interested in bringing bikes to New York, and would continue to work with city transportation officials.

Ms. Trottenberg said that while the city was committed to expanding Citi Bike, it also has to consider other factors such as making sure there is adequate and safe bike infrastructure to support increasing ridership. She added that unlike some cities, New York has a successful dock-based system. Citi Bike usage reached a peak last month of more than 70,000 rides in a single day.

“The challenge as we look at the next phase is how to integrate new technology into what has already been a safe and successful system,” she said.

Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a group that advocates for more biking, agreed that the city should focus on Citi Bikes rather than dockless bikes. Acoalition of community groups and advocates, called #CitiBike4All, has collected 7,000 petition signatures in favor of expanding the bike-share program.

“I think it is unwise to rush to an unproven solution when we have a proven solution staring us in the face,” he said. “We’re never going to be against more bikes in New York, but at the same time, we have to approach this responsibly.”

Sean Piccoli contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Next Generation of City Bike Sharing Skips the Unwieldy Docking Stations. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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